Faithfully
by qwertyuiopsdfghj
Summary: Six years after he left New York, Gregor is still being affected by what took place in the Underland, positively and negativly . When a news story alerts him to a possible tragedy for Regalia, however, he realizes he has no choice but to return and warn his friends. What will he say to the girl who hasn't left his mind in six years? T for minor cursing.


**Chapter 1**

 **Hello and welcome to the first chapter of Faithfully! If you are coming from my other fanfic, thank you! If not, check out my Zootopia fanfic The Truth Comes Out. Chapter 5 has my explanation for why I am writing this, and I'm too lazy to copy-paste it.**

 **This is a slight AU. Only real difference is in this story Ares and Aurora were officially mates. Doesn't change the story of the original series much, but it will have a pretty big impact on this story.**

 **Without further ado, Chapter 1. Enjoy!**

Gregor shot up in his bed, sweating. It took him a couple seconds to orient himself.

" _Another one"_ he thought.

Rubbing his eyes, he looked at the clock next to his bed, letting out a small groan when he realized there was still 2 hours before he had to leave for school.

Gregor knew he wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep from past experiences. Quietly, he got dressed and headed out, leaving a note for his parents.

Gregor shivered as he stepped out of the house. It may not get as cold in February in Virginia as it does in New York, but it was still pretty chilly. At 5:30 in the morning it was still dark, but thanks to echolocation, he didn't need to worry.

Gregor took his usual route around the farm: around the barn, to the pond, then winding through the corn fields, the back to the house. All in all, the route totaled about 9 miles, which he usually completed in about 50 minutes. Gregor had been dedicated to running for years, but after what happened in the Underland, he had thrown himself into it like never before.

He'd had a lot of practice. At least twice a week, he was woken by nightmares early in the morning. They varied some, but they were almost always focused on those he hadn't been able to save. Tick. Solovet. Hamnet. Pandora. Thalia. Mange. Twitchtip. Cartesian.

Ares.

Whenever he was awoken, he ran. Running helped him forget the nightmares, to an extent.

As Gregor ran, he thought about the future. He was a senior now, which meant he had to decide on a college. He was a good-not-great student, and with the fact he was being recruited for track he had a pretty good set of options. He had narrowed it down to three options: Texas, Florida, or Ohio State.

" _Then again, there's always St. Johns..."_

Gregor felt like slapping himself. He had broken his rule: Don't think about New York. Don't think about the Underland.

Don't think about _her._

Of course, this was completely pointless. The picture was still in his desk, and, against his better judgement, he still took it out a couple times a month, always telling himself it would be the last time. He had tried to move on; He had dated a couple of girls, a couple he even really liked. But every time, he would end up comparing them to her, even if he didn't mean to. Sometimes they would realize something was off, sometimes he would end it because he realized it wasn't fair to them, but it ended every time.

It was the only reason he had even applied to St. Johns; it wasn't a great school academically and it didn't even have a men's track team.

Even as he was applying, he knew it was a bad idea; he knew nothing good could come of it. He'd had to apply in secret, since he knew his mom would never approve. If she could, she would stop anyone in their family from even going in the state ever again, let alone the city.

But Gregor's birthday was in 3 days. Once he turned 18, he could go wherever he wanted. When he had received the acceptance letter from St. Johns, he had felt a mix of elation and dread. He had a decision to make.

Logically, he knew he should pick one of the other three schools. A scholarship, safety, a good education. Everything a high school kid should want.

And yet…

No matter how hard Gregor tried to get her out of his head, it was a losing battle. Every time he thought he was ready to make a decision on where to go, she popped into his head. Her silver hair. Her laugh. What he had felt when they kissed. Her stunning purple eyes.

He knew this wasn't normal. When they had first met seven years ago, they had been eleven. They were twelve the last time they had seen each other. Sure they had said they loved each other, but those were the words of two kids who didn't know what they were talking about, only that they would never see each other again. Right?

No matter how much Gregor tried to convince himself he wasn't still in love with her, that he had never been in love with her, not really, he knew the truth. Deep down, he knew he would never stop loving her. No matter how much it hurt him.

Gregor realized he had made it back to the house and checked his watch. 6:30.

As he had many times before, Gregor quietly went back up to his room, got his school stuff together, and took a shower. By the time his sisters awoke at 7, he was preparing breakfast for them.

Lizzie walked in, followed by Margaret. As Gregor looked at him, he couldn't help but imagine them as they had been six years ago. Lizzie, who had been terrified of the Underland, befriending the giant rat Ripred and working with a group of giant creatures to crack the Code of Claw.

Margaret, who had been called Boots then, being worshipped as a princess by the crawlers and somehow almost never being scared of all the chaos around her, always doing her best to keep everyone's spirits up, even when things were at their worst.

" _It's funny,"_ Though Gregor. " _So much has changed, yet they are still the same._ "

Lizzie was 14 now, and in 8th grade. Her love for math had not worn away, and she was currently taking math two grade levels up. While Gregor had gotten athletic scholarship offers, Lizzie was well on her way to getting academic ones. Gregor knew she would have her pick of the litter when it came to college, and he couldn't be prouder.

Margaret, who had insisted they stop calling her Boots two years ago, was now a 9 year old third grader. Her infectious positivity had not disappeared with age, and she was one of the most popular kids in her class.

As they ate breakfast, Gregor realized he didn't know how the Underland had affected his sisters. He knew Lizzie had grown close to Ripred, and while Margaret didn't really remember what had happened, she had been told all about it and claimed she had very vague memories of giant cockroaches and a giant city. But neither of them had had the connection Gregor did with the Underland and Regalia.

On the one hand, he was glad for this. He knew firsthand how hard missing it was, and he hated the idea of either of his siblings having the same nightmares he had. But it was lonely sometimes, having no one else who could really know what you were going through.

Gregor broke out of his thoughts when he saw the clock.

"OK, 7:30, time to go." He said. "Does everyone have everything?"

Both girls told him they did and, with a quick goodbye to his parents, they got into Gregor's old pickup truck and began the twenty minute drive to school.

" _Another day."_ Gregor thought. " _And one less day I have to decide."_

 **So there it is, the end of chapter one. What do you think? Reviews are greatly appreciated.**

 **Until Next Time!**


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